catapultkid

hi, im entering my senior year of college and my younger brother has resently gotten me back into cars. he just purchased a 240 and is looking to do some small events/driving schools and things of that nature, i would like to be apart of this and am currently saving up for a car that can handle my DD needs as well as possibly some fun at the track. ive thought about several cars and an rx7 is one of them. however with the raising fuel prices ive got to be realistic. his car has a sr20 swap and runs on 91 octane getting 25 mpg. to make a long story short i can get free 87 octane fuel from my job on the weekends. but not 91. to my suprise i heard rx7s run better on lower octane levels reducing the carbon build up in the engine. so that fits the bill as far as free gas goes, but i only get 1 tank on the weekend and have to drive about 300-400 miles a week. almost all highway

im not tryng to outdue my brother in performace i just want to hold my own. im a mechanical guy and love working on stuff, mechancal engineering is my major actually but anyways i dont have alot of money 4-5k and i need to replace the car im driving now and would like to do it at the end of the summer.

so rx-7 owners whats the solution, should i pass on by or should i go NA, turboed. looking highly at gen 2's because there alittle more affordable.

other cars im looking at
AE86
mk2 gti with 2 liter
honda hatch, dont hate hehe
300zx for ***** and giggles and i love the way they look

thanks everyone in advance

woode87

I wouldn't recommend an RX-7 for you with what you said you will be doing.. They can be daily drivers, but not good ones.. especially for that much mileage. Not much cargo room, 1 passenger, reliability goes away when you make them fast for the most part, you will have a hard time finding one that is in truely good condition to start with. Honestly a 240 w/ sr20det swap will be a hell of a lot better DD and do decent on any amateur track.. (more room, decent reliable power, more modernized than an FC, more aftermarket and dealer support, better mpg, etc)

Right now I am lucky if I see 220 miles before I have to fill up on gas, and I have a 14.5 galon tank.. but then again I don't drive as conservative as I could.

Chuck

iTrader: (2)

You won't be able to take advantage of th 87 octane in a turbo RX7. Turbos require 91 as a kinock preventative. The N/A's are good as DD's but not as quick as the Turbos.

Funkspectrum

iTrader: (5)

S4 turbos were built to run on 87 octane fuel. Running any higher octane would be a waste of money.

A modded TII would need higher octane fuel of course...


And to the Original Poster, read the FAQs stickied at the top of the second gen tech subforum.

catapultkid

im glad to see this forum alive. i think one of the biggest things that i want to get out of the car is driving dynamics. im not as intrested in going fast in straight line acceleration, but have the know how of control that you learn on a track. for course this does mean a quicker than eco box but you get the idea. like autocross

NJGreenBudd

iTrader: (1)

For 4 0r 5 thousand dollars you should be able to have a reliable DD, NA or Turbo your choice. RX7's are just like any other car, an '86 rx7 has the same potential as any other car from '86, they are all going to need certain maintenance if it hasn't already been done.

Like mentioned, read the FAQ's and look for Buying Guides on here or Aaron Cake's website... good luck.

Boosted11

iTrader: (11)

Rx7's are great cars, there's no question about it. The biggest downside is the mpg. You need to learn how to work on rotarys, because a high percentage of mechanics don't know **** about them. Let me tell you now, that if you decide to get an n/a you'll want a turbo probly after a couple months. So with the money you got it sounds like you could get an already decently modified t2.

NJGreenBudd

iTrader: (1)

or a really nice stock TII. just don't rush into a sale, if it seems like a ricer hack job or a failed race car I would pass on it and look for a cleaner car. For 5 grand you can get a nice RX7. You'll know when you find it and we're here to make sure it's kept in good working order.

catapultkid

cool, ive been reading up on the s4 along with wikipedia there is alot of info out there. my main concern is the mpg, it seems if it is well maintained then a turbo s4 will be in the 25 mpg range which is awesome for a sports car, i would love to have 200 horses under the hood. dont really need too much more i dont think, like i said looking for handleing.

whereiscarmensandiego

a turbo s4 will get u more like 20mpg highway if completely stock and running at its prime

n/a cars have a hard enough time getting 20mpg highway

and as someone has already said u are gonna get somthing like 200 miles to a tank

for what u want and goals u have just get u a nice honda and do some suspension mods to it. u get good mpg,great daily and with suspension properly setup far superior to a fc on the autox.

^^^^no flaming me but we all know its true..

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Nonsense.
A properly maintained NA should get @ 24-26 MPG on the highway....mine does.

niburu

iTrader: (1)

since you're in Richmond drop by one of the regular Friday night meets
https://www.rx7club.com/ne-rx-7-forum-30/weekly-richmond-va-friday-night-starbucks-meet-new-location-533164/
usually a couple of RX-7's there plus other cars you might wanna consider
also there are a couple more Richmond threads in the NE forum if you catch up with us local owners

Have you considered a Miata at all? they're good on gas and brutal competitors at autoX.

NJGreenBudd

iTrader: (1)

Like a Pilot?? Hondas are teh suck.



The point is that any car that is properly maintained and in good running order is going to suffice as a DD, i depends on your persoanl preference. However claiming that a "honda" w/ suspension is superior to an FC on the track is just silly......

I would try to get to ride in a couple FC's and see what you think.

Ex-Eg-Driver

iTrader: (1)

Have you thought about a Miata? those things are beast...no matter how gay they look. And they also have a huge after market choice in parts.

But yea im not a EXPERT on RX-7s but I sure love my N/A S4. Reliability is not a issue because if taken cared of properly, these motors are determined to hit 250K if not more. Power is not a big deal to me...I'm more of a handling kind of guy also. You will not be able to hit 200 Whp easily with a N/a though. It would take more money than 4-5k. 140-50 whp is more achievable with bolt ons and tuning and such. But RWD is already fun so power never really bothered me.

Since you are a ME major you would love this car.

catapultkid

ive never really considered a miata because i hate they way they look. however because you mentioned it ill see

whereiscarmensandiego

yes any properly maintaind car is a great dd even a rx7. but its becoming harder and harder to find one thats been maintained the only way u do is when someone loves the and its there baby.when buying this car the price is usually outrageous because they dont want to let go of it.

and no retard why would u think that i would even be suggesting a pilot????
a civic or a delsol is of course what i ment. a delsol can be made to out handle a 911 easily which would be more then enough to compete at his level of autox

but if u dont like hondas get a miata they are brutal ,but u have to be man enough to admit that they are and give them a try,not just say they are a little girl car. u wil prolly get alot of flake for it especially from a 240sx crowd but as soon as u burn the crap out of them at the track they will shut up

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Absolute and total BS like most of your posts.

RX-7s that are running properly will get the EPA advertised mileage easily if not driven with a lead foot.

200 miles per tank is stupid. I do that in the city with my bridgeport.

catapultkid

hahaha yeah i know ill get some crap, hey i was wondering about a 3000gt, vr-4 they seem (to the extent ive researched) to be not half bad gas mileage. however i do realize the extremely heavy. straight line performance?

niburu

iTrader: (1)

you are not going to find a running 3000GT VR-4 for anywhere near $5k
and they definitely handle more than just straight line performance
they are a major pain in the *** to work on btw

rotorymanincraig

I have a vert and get 27mpg on the highway, and can get 350-450 miles on a tank. Most of the driving was on mountain passes too. I used my vert as a DD for 2 years and only had small problems with it, and that was mostly Maintinance that was need because the guy that owned it before me was a dipshit. Find a good maintained one and you will be more than happy. There is a feeling that you get from driving an Rx7 that you cant't get else where. Even if you have an NA you will love it.

catapultkid

thanks for the hopeful enlightenment

MmSadda

iTrader: (2)

No. Not true. I have an s4 n/a, with just the cats taken out of the exhaust, and a Borla catback... basically, when I had a stock airbox, I saw 27 or 28 mpg highway on a somewhat regular basis with moderately conservative driving. When taking it to the track and really thrashing on it, I've seen as low as 16. It's very much dependent on how you're driving. I don't know what you could expect from a TurboII, but I'd guess you could see 25 if you make the proper minor modifications (losing the cats, good exhaust)

rowtareh?

iTrader: (1)

Rotary and good miles per gallon should never belong in the same sentence. An RX-7 is so thrilling to drive, you will not care about the MPG's.


Welcome to the forum's.

john ward

iTrader: (7)

I own a first and a second gen. I used to live 45 minutes away from work and got upset of the mileage. Now i live diagonal across the street from work and still drive around for 45 minutes after work. Screw the mpg these cars are just plain fun. I almost wish i was addicted to crack instead of rotor.

catapultkid

thanks for the stats guys